Piano casing top construction



E, WORTHHNGTON PIANO CASNG TOP CONSTRUCTION Fild may e, 95e 2 sheets-sheet 1 lrx lllllllllll l 'uw rm u WM Aug- 23, 1938- E., WORTHINGTON 2,127,948

PIANO CASING TOP CONSTRUCTION Filed May 6,'1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 i ifi/mii ll/arluggan @I @if Patented Aug. 23, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT @FFICE PIANO CASING TOP CONSTRUCTION Application May 6, 1936, Serial No. 78,225

19 Claims.

This invention relates to the top Wall of the casing of pianos.

Generally stated, the object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved construction whereby the top of the casing of a piano is provided with a sound outlet, and with a cover for said outlet, which can be closed when the piano is not in use.

Another object is to construct the said cover in such form that, when opened, it may occupy an inclined position above the keyboard, thereby to serve also as a music-rack.

It is also an object to provide certain details and features of constructon tending to increase the general efliciency and desirability of a piano casing top of this particular character.

To the foregoing and other useful ends, the invention consists in matters hereinafter set forth and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawings, in Which- Fig. 1 is a perspective of a piano having a top embodying the principles of the invention, with the said cover in open position.

Fig. 2 is a similar view, with the lower portion of the piano shown broken away for convenience of illustration, and with the said cover in closed position.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section, on a smaller scale, on line 3 3 in Fig. 5 of the drawings.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section on line 4 4 in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical section on line 5 5 in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical section on line 6 6 in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

Fig. 7 is a vertical section on line 'I I inlFig. 5 oi the drawings.

Fig. 8 is a detail section on line 8 8 of Fig. 9, showing a portion of the top construction.

Fig. 9 is a horizontal section on line 9 9 in Fig. 8 of the drawings.

As thus illustrated, the invention comprises a piano casing having a top wall I, formed with a sound outlet opening 2 therein. Guide members 3 are suitably supported on the under side of the top I, at the opposite ends of said opening 2, and the inner guide members support the louvers 4 that extend lengthwise of said opening.

The cover 9 is shaped to iit said opening 2 and is provided at its outer edge with a handle portion 6, as shown. This cover is hinged at 'I to the under side of the outer ends 8 of the members 9 that are formed to slide in said guides, as shown more clearly in Fig. 7 of the drawings. The members 9 have shoulders I0 that serve as stops for engaging the rear edge of the opening 2, to limit the backward motion of the members 9, when the cover is closed. The shoulders II on the members 9 engage the inner side of the piano casing I 2 when the cover is pulled out and swung into open position, as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings. The under side of the cover, at its rear edge, has a portion i3 that rests on the seat I4 when the cover is closed.

The top I, with its said cover 5, is in the form of a removable unit which can be removably fastened in any suitable manner upon the top of the piano casing. For example, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9 of the drawings, the piano casing is provided with sockets l5, having overlying metal portions l, each provided with a hole I'I, having a lateral slotl I8 at one side thereof. The under side of the top I is provided with suitably formed studs I9, adapted to pass through the holes Il of the two metal devices I6, and adapted to then enter the slots I3 of the two metal devices, thereby holding the top against displacement, except that the top can thereafter be removed by sliding it forward suiciently to bring the heads of the studs I9 into alignment with the holes I'I, so that the top can then be lifted upward.

As thus constructed, the piano top has a cover 5 that can be opened and swung into the position shown in Figs. 1 and 6 of the drawings, and in such position it can be used as a music-rack, as the handle 9 will support the music on the cover, in convenient position above the keyboard of the piano. When the cover is open, and the piano is in use, the louvers 4 provide an outlet for the sound waves. When the cover is closed, the top surface of the piano is free from hinges or other metal devices and presents an attractive appearance.

As shown in Fig. '7 of the drawings, the vertical walls of the piano casing are provided with a rubber gasket strip 29 for engaging the under side of the top I, when the latter is in place, thereby in effect forming a practically dust-tight top for the piano casing. It will be understood, of course, that the said gasket can be made of any suitable or desired material, anything that is sufliciently soft or eXible or resilient to serve the purpose, and that the word rubben therefore, is used in the generic sense as meaning a gasket of any suitable material for this purpose, not only to exclude dust, but also to prevent vibration or rattling of the top.

While the invention is shown and described in connection with an upright piano, a piano in which the Sounding board is disposed vertically, 55

it will be understood that the invention can also be used in connection with an ordinary grand piano, or any piano in which the sounding board is horizontal, and in which the casing has a top wall of any suitable or desired character.

Thus, the cover 5 has three positions: a normal or closed horizontal position, a forward horizontal position in the same plane, and an inclined position when fully opened. In the first and second positions, the top of the cover 5 is flush with the upper surface of the top wall I of the piano casing, and the said top wall and the cover are removable intact as `a unit from the top casing. The opening of the sound opening 2 begins at the rear edge of the cover 5, and increases in extent as the cover is pulled forward, and as the said opening 2 extends forward through the front edge of the top wall I, because the cover is entirely out of its opening when it is in the third or inclined position, shown in Figs. 1 and 6 of the drawings.

Therefore, it is important to observe that in accordance with the invention the rear edge of the cover 5 is raised a distance above the horizontal plane of the top I, so that the front edge of the cover is then below said plane, when the cover is in position to form a music rack. The slides 9 have top portions, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, that extend above the guides 3 to support the cover in closed position.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A piano casing having a top provided with sound outlet opening therein, a cover for clos ing said opening, having front and rear edges f in the horizontal closed position thereof, and

instrumentalities for mounting said cover to slide forward edgewise in the horizontal plane thereof into a horizontal position with its front edge projecting a distance beyond the front edge of said tcp wall, and with said opening uncovered behind the rear edge of the cover, including parallel movable guiding means extending forward and rearward under the opposite ends of said cover, connected at the front ends thereof to the front portion of the cover, by which the latter is supported in both its closed and any forward position thereof, parallel stationary guides for said guiding means, fixed on the under side of the top, and stop means to limit said forward horizontal displacement of the cover in the plane thereof.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1, said opening extending through the front edge of said top wall, and said cover when closed tting the rear and side edges of said opening, with the front edge of the cover even with the front edge of said top wall, so that the cover is iiush with the top when in closed position.

3. A structure as specified in claim l., having a hinge that is slidable forward with the cover, and about which the latter in its extreme forward position is movable upwardly at its rear edge into an inclined position to form an inclined music rack.

4. A structure as specified in claim 1, having a hinge that is slidable forward with the cover, and about which the latter in its extreme forward position is movable upwardly at its rear edge into an inclined position to form an inclined music rack, with the front edge of the cover forming the lower edge of said rack and extending a distance below said top, and with its upper edge, which is the rear edge of the cover, extending a distance above said top.

5. A structure as specified'in claim 1, said cover fitting said opening and being flush with the top wall, and a ledge for the front edge of said cover, forming a handle by which to open and close the cover.

6. A structure as specified in claim l, said cover fitting said opening and being flush with the top, and a ledge for the front edge of said cover, forming a handle by which to open and close the cover, having a hinge about which the cover in its extreme forward position is movable upwardly at its rear edge, which is the rear edge of the cover, to form an inclined music rack, with said handle forming a support for the lower edge of the music.

7. A structure as specified in claim 1, said top and cover forming a structural unit which is removable intact from the top of the casing.

8. A piano casing having 'a top formed with a sound outlet opening, a movable cover for said opening, said cover having a horizontal closed position, and also a horizontal forward position, in which latter the rear edge of the cover is spaced a distance from the rear edge of said opening, and means permitting the rear edge of the cover to rise a distance above the horizontal plane of the top.

9. A structure as specified in claim 8, said cover having an inclined position in which its rear edge is uppermost above said plane to form a music rack.

l0. A structure as specified in claim 8, said cover being flush with the top in both of said positions thereof.

11. A structure as speced in claim 8, said cover projecting beyond the front edge of said top in said forward position thereof.

12, A structure as specified in claim 8, comprising parallel guides under the opposite end portions of said opening, slides in said guides, and hinges between the front ends of said slides and the under side of said cover, adjacent the front edge of the latter.

13, A structure as specified in claim 8, com prising parallel gui-des under the opposite end portions of said opening, slides in said guides, and hinges between the front ends of said slides and the under side of said cover, adjacent the front edge of the latter, and louvers under said cover and below the plane of the top, having their ends supported by said guides.

14. In a piano casing having a top formed with a sound outlet opening therein, extending through the front edge thereof, a pair of spaced stationary guides under the top at the right end portion of said opening, extending at a right angle to the front of the casing, a similar pair of`guides at the left end thereof, a slide movable forward and back in each pair of guides, below and relatively to said top, a cover for said opening, means on the under side of the forward portion of said cover to hinge it to the front end of each slide, so that the cover rests horizontally on each slide to close said opening, the cover and slides being movable forward as a unit so that the cover will project at its iront edge, to partially open said opening, in rear of said cover, and means to swing the rear edge of the cover upwardly a distance above the plane of said opening, thereby to fully open said opening and form a music rack of the cover.

15. A structure as specified in claim 14, said cover fitting said opening and formed with a front edge that extends a distance beyond the front ends of the slides, to overhang the front of the casing, when in its forward horizontal position, and to hang down below said plane in its raised position.

16. A structure as specified in claim 14, said hinge means being secured to the under side of the front ends of said slides, and the latter having shoulders forming stops to engage a front part of the casing and thereby limit the forward displacement of the cover.

17. A structure as speciiied in claim 14, havi0 ing louvers spacing the pair of guides apart and secured at their ends thereon at right angles thereto.

18. A structure as specified in claim 14, the inner member of each pair of guides being spaced a distance from the adjacent end of said openmg.

19. A structure as specied in claim 14, each slide having a portion that extends above the guides to support said cover in closed position.

EVERETT WORTHINGTON. 

